Springing Malik

17 May 2018

The 2018 NHL Awards show reverts back to normal after the excitement of last year, when the event was combined with the results of an expansion draft revealing an impending dreadful Vegas Golden Knights team stocked with the mere dregs of the player pool made available by 30 infallible general managers.

While this won't add to the proceedings on the night itself, some related anticipation comes from the recent announcement that voters' ballots will be subsequently made public, finally providing some accountability to the choices made by those with the responsibility, namely 200 Hockey Men and 200,000 employees of The Athletic.

Bill Foley with the joyous expression that can only come from being a billionaire, having lots of attention on you at a big party in Las Vegas and seeing Dale Tallon approaching you

Here is the usual quick rundown of the main awards (those that are voted on) and those in contention:

Hart Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to: The player adjudged most valuable to his teamIn practice, normally awarded to:A high-scoring forward, since goalies and defensemen "have their own awards", unlike high-scoring forwards

Taylor Hall (New Jersey Devils)
His offensive dominance in taking an otherwise pedestrian Devils team to the playoffs caused many observers to remark that they could not believe how he alone was enough to get it done, words also used by Ray Shero to describe Adam Larsson a couple of summers ago.

Anže Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings)
Something of a controversial selection, given the outcry among those who believed Connor McDavid remained an eligible candidate for the award, but tough to argue with the case built by the pivotal role he played in extending the Kings' season a full 10 minutes beyond the voting deadline.

Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche)
Looking to emulate something previously done by Eric Lindros under Bobby Clarke, in becoming MVP while playing for a G.M. who is a past winner of the award, but not looking to emulate anything else that happened to Eric Lindros under Bobby Clarke.

Ted Lindsay Award

Voted on by: Members of the National Hockey League Players' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to: The most outstanding player in the NHLIn practice, normally awarded to:"Whatever means the lowest escrow"

Taylor Hall (New Jersey Devils)
A year before becoming the first pick in the NHL Draft, was actually drafted as low as 89th overall in the 2009 KHL Draft, although this is now widely acknowledged by Edmonton media to have been a historically strong draft for low-scoring second pair defensemen.

Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche)
Endless comparisons to fellow Cole Harbour product and first overall pick, Sidney Crosby, did not ease off after dramatically stepping up his game after the trade of a teammate centre taken in the top three of the draft, much in the same way that Crosby only emerged as a Cup-winning talent after the trade of Evgeni Malkin to the Los Angeles Kings in 2008.

Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
Was appropriately made the cover star of NHL 18, a video game that lets you pull off spectacular individual moves on the ice and have the chance for your team to be rebuilt through hugely unrealistic trades.

James Norris Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the positionIn practice, normally awarded to:The Canadian defense player who demonstrates throughout October the greatest all-round ability to be "due" in the eyes of 90% of the press

Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings)
Continues to take some heat for a mid-season proclamation about the relative quality of the Golden Knights and the Kings, but his statement that there was no way he'd be on the losing side four times in the playoffs to Vegas proved entirely accurate.Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Joined Erik Karlsson in dressing up as a pirate when arriving to the All-Star skills competition, causing some chatter given nobody could remember seeing Karlsson in close proximity to a good defenseman wearing the same outfit before.

P.K. Subban (Nashville Predators)
His outgoing nature in a sport riddled with conformity makes him a target of much coded criticism, though I'm not sure the French language really counts as a code.

Vezina Trophy

Voted on by: General Managers of all NHL clubsSupposed to be awarded to:The goaltender who is adjudged to be the best at this positionIn practice, normally awarded to:The goaltender who is adjudged to be the best at wins, GAA and clutch winsConnor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets)
Broke Tom Barrasso's record for most wins in a season by a US-born goalie and is seemingly well on the way towards becoming a similar favourite of the troops media for his loquacious nature:

Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators)
Despite a long history of strong results and personal accolades, remains a player with as many critics as supporters, since it is an incontrovertible truth that for every person that says no team has made a better eighth round draft pick since he was taken, there is one who says that no team has made a worse one.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)
The third Russian player taken in the first round of the 2012 draft, has easily surpassed the achievements of Nail Yakupov and Mikhail Grigorenko thanks to his much-admired ability to not be drafted by the Oilers or Sabres.

Calder Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey LeagueIn practice, normally awarded to:The player selected as the highest point-scoring forward in what might be his third year of competition in the National Hockey League after what might be no or several years of competition in another professional leagueMathew Barzal (New York Islanders)
Gave the New York Islanders an elite 1-2 scoring threat down the middle, unlikely to be matched by any team next year, especially the New York Islanders.Brock Boeser (Vancouver Canucks)
An outstanding rookie season was cut short by injury after a collision with Cal Clutterbuck and an open bench door, earning the multi-positional and hard-hitting door a five-year $17.5m contract extension from an impressed Garth Snow.

Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes)
The Coyotes have been keen to capitalise on the rookie's marketability as a clutch scorer, but attempts to trademark the nickname 'Clayton Killer' were rebuffed on finding it was already taken.

Model Carol Alt has had Alexei Yashin by her side for almost 20 years, earning her the nickname 'New York Islanders Salary Cap Summary'

Frank J. Selke Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the gameIn practice, normally awarded to: The forward who is considered by PHWA members to be the best defensively, based on a balanced analysis of zone-starts, Corsi %, quality of competition, usage and shot prevention while shorthanded and penalty differential, though an insignificant minority might just look at reputation and plus-minus.

Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
Although credited with one assist in Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, that goal was not scored by Marchand, as he could not complete a key pass to Braddy in the game that ended the Boston team's season.

Sean Couturier (Philadelphia Flyers)
By scoring seven points in two games playing with a torn MCL, entered the pantheon of Flyers to ultimately suffer failure after performing playoff heroics in the face of adversity, joining Kate Smith (dead) and Michael Leighton (Michael Leighton).

Anže Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings)
A Selke finalist for the fourth time in the past five seasons, after finishing second in 2013/14, placing third in 2014/15, winning in 2015/16 and having a -10 rating in 2016/17.

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockeyIn practice, normally awarded to:The player who missed the most games through injury the season before, especially if injury caused by incident of vehicular donutshopicide

Brian Boyle (New Jersey Devils)
After failing to break through with the Los Angeles Kings, went on to become a defensive specialist in the league, a reputation first attached to him by one shrewd observer after apparently shutting down a young Artem Anisimov in the AHL playoffs, despite facing Artem Anisimov in the AHL playoffs precisely as many times as I have.

Roberto Luongo (Florida Panthers)
A rollercoaster career bookended by the confidence-boosting experience of being traded by Mike Milbury and the confidence-shattering experience of not being traded by Dale Tallon.

Jordan Staal (Carolina Hurricanes)
Engaged in a tight family competition for most playoff points over the past six years, currently sitting alongside Jared, a mere three points behind Eric and eight behind Marc.

"Travis, congratulations on winning the NHL Foundation Award. Like you, I also pledge to devote a large amount of time over the next year aiming to enrich the lives of certain people in the Calgary community."

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing abilityIn practice, normally awarded to:The player adjudged to have had the fewest penalty minutes when the voters quickly skim down the list of top 20 scorers five minutes before the deadline to send in their ballot

Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers)
While many have suggested that the talented Finn will be given away to Seattle at the earliest opportunity, the concept is clearly a joke, since Vegas isn't ever going to consider letting him go.William Karlsson (Vegas Golden Knights)
Many viewed his 43-goal breakout as one of the biggest surprises ever seen in the NHL, but as one of the six greatest goalscorers in Columbus Blue Jackets history at the time of the expansion draft, perhaps this should have been expected.

Ryan O'Reilly (Buffalo Sabres)
Has admitted recent struggles as alternate captain on a poor Sabres team, igniting trade talk, so donut be shocked to see him put himself in the shop window, ending up in a position of no responsibility and coming away with his reputation intact.

Jack Adams Award

Voted on by: Members of the NHL Broadcasters' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's successIn practice, normally awarded to:The coach adjudged to have coached either the most injured team or the team with the best PDO/shootout-fuelled record.

Jared Bednar (Colorado Avalanche)
Coached the Avalanche to a 47-point improvement on the previous season, which sounds impressive until you realise Patrick Roy's ability to make his 2013/14 team ready to play so much more than the season before translated to a 73-point gain.Bruce Cassidy (Boston Bruins)
After his first playoff appearance as an NHL head coach 15 years ago ended in his team blowing a series lead by losing four straight games to the Tampa Bay Lightning, this season with the Bruins showed just how much he had learned over that time.

Gerard Gallant (Vegas Golden Knights)
In a never-to-be-repeated occurrence, was let go by the Florida Panthers before joining the Golden Knights and playing a major part in their wildly successful first season.

Four feet tall, a mix of silver and mahogany and silent at a podium in front of the media; John Tortorella with the Jack Adams Award

General Manager of the Year Award

Voted on by: General Managers of all NHL clubs and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast mediaSupposed to be awarded to:The top National Hockey League General ManagerIn practice, normally awarded to:The National Hockey League General Manager Who Apparently Did A Slightly Better Job Than [checks notes] Peter Chiarelli and Pierre Dorion?Kevin Cheveldayoff (Winnipeg Jets)
Drafted 16th overall out of the Western Hockey League by the New York Islanders and no subsequent NHL playing career to speak of, which is also a sentence describing two sides of a Peter Chiarelli trade involving a finalist for a different award.George McPhee (Vegas Golden Knights)
Shaped a remarkable season for a first-year expansion team, featuring NHL career best performances from, among others, Tomáš Hyka, Vadim Shipachyov and 40% Of Derick Brassard's Cap Hit.

Steve Yzerman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
After winning the award with the 2014/15 Tampa Bay Lightning, looking to make history by winning the award with the 2013/14 New York Rangers.

In hindsight, there was a clue as to which assistant GM would be favoured by the Maple Leafs for promotion, when Kyle Dubas represented the team at the 2017 awards show while Mark Hunter stayed at home

20 May 2017

Despite a hugely negative response from fans and media who strongly disagreed with the NHL's rigid stance on the merits of televising a major event revealing of the outcome of a player selection process, league officials have sadly ignored feedback and chosen to again broadcast its awards show.

In addition, the event will feature the Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft, where thousands of tourists in attendance and hundreds of television viewers will learn the names of the bad contracts and 5-10 goalscoring first liners heading to Las Vegas that were first learned several hours earlier when leaked on Twitter by hockey insiders:

Here is the usual quick rundown of the main awards (those that are voted on) and those in contention:

Hart Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to: The player adjudged most valuable to his teamIn practice, normally awarded to:A high-scoring forward, since goalies and defensemen "have their own awards", unlike high-scoring forwards

Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Recipient of the Order of Honor from President Vladimir Putin following the Russian team’s 2014 World Championships victory, perhaps explaining his apparent disinterest in a Stanley Cup win, since he is already welcome at the White House whenever he likes.

Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Has a chance to become only the second player, alongside Gordie Howe, to win a Hart at least ten years after first doing so, a feat sure to remain unmatched until Jaromir Jágr's victory in the 2024/25 season.

Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
Despite some controversy, was content with his third place finish in Calder Trophy voting a year ago, citing a long-standing team policy of not accepting major gifts after only being competitive for half a season.

Ted Lindsay Award

Voted on by: Members of the National Hockey League Players' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to: The most outstanding player in the NHLIn practice, normally awarded to:"Whatever means the lowest escrow"

Brent Burns (San Jose Sharks)
Living up to the expectations of scouts prior to the now-vaunted 2003 draft, who claimed that drafting a right-wing at least 6-5 220lb would either result in an elite scoring defensemen or something marginally less valuable.

Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Some fellow players have apparently soured on the Penguins star, without being sure of the reasons; one Canadian defenseman admitting off the record that his vote had gone elsewhere but "couldn't quite put his finger on it" as to why.

Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
With the Oilers' chances of success resting so heavily on the continued good fortune of keeping their star centre healthy, the fans at Rogers Place have not only been crossing their fingers but also crossing their legs all season.

Powerful symbolism on display at the 2016 awards show as sitting above the shoulders of Patrick Kane are personifications of good conscience (Ted Lindsay) and evil conscience (Patrick Kane)

James Norris Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the positionIn practice, normally awarded to:The Canadian defense player who demonstrates throughout October the greatest all-round ability to be "due" in the eyes of 90% of the press

Brent Burns (San Jose Sharks)
29 goals and 76 points from the blue line makes him a candidate for the award. Being from Ontario, unshaven, without front teeth and playing in California makes him the odds-on favourite.Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Has been likened to Chris Pronger due to his very similar size, being a fellow #2 overall draft pick and the value for money provided by his contract to an unfashionable sunbelt franchise.Erik Karlsson (Ottawa Senators)
During the season, proposed to his girlfriend by putting a ring on top of a pizza, the unusual approach seen by most people as a heartwarming gesture, but mostly criticised by Canadian hockey writers as the pizza wasn't Doughy enough.

In most years, awards night provides a rare opportunity for P.K. Subban to not have to cope with people with white faces pointing at him and trying to hold him back

Vezina Trophy

Voted on by: General Managers of all NHL clubsSupposed to be awarded to:The goaltender who is adjudged to be the best at this positionIn practice, normally awarded to:The goaltender who is adjudged to be the best at wins, GAA and clutch winsSergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets)
After his second season in the NHL was mostly spent backing up Ilya Bryzgalov who had just signed a nine-year contract, was traded away by the Philadelphia Flyers, a choice considered by some knowledgeable observers to be in the top 500 of worst goalie decisions made in Flyers’ history.

Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals)
If securing a save percentage north of .900 in matching the career accomplishment of two playoff series defeats to the Pittsburgh Penguins was not enough, a second Vezina win would surely raise him above Jim Carey in the pantheon of Capitals netminders.

Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens)
Wife Angela's maiden name is Webber, so while their marriage will be entirely free of distractions, things will likely sour over the next ten years and be very expensive to get out of.

The strain of Vancouver's poor play over recent years is beginning to show on Henrik Sedin, but not so much on Daniel for some reason

Calder Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey LeagueIn practice, normally awarded to:The player selected as the highest point-scoring forward in what might be his third year of competition in the National Hockey League after what might be no or several years of competition in another professional leaguePatrik Laine (Winnipeg Jets)
The flashy winger has been likened to both Teemu Selänne and Alexander Ovechkin by virtue of also never having scored a playoff goal for the Colorado Avalanche.Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Among many impressive rookie accomplishments, uniquely managed to score four goals in a game in Ottawa without Nick Holden and Marc Staal being on the ice for any of them.

Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Despite a stellar first year, perhaps gained most recognition as a result of the Pittsburgh Penguins scoring a playoff goal while he staggered up slowly from a prone position in the middle of the defensive zone, a tactic brought to prominence in recent years by Brooks Orpik.

Frank J. Selke Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the gameIn practice, normally awarded to: The forward who is considered by PHWA members to be the best defensively, based on a balanced analysis of zone-starts, Corsi %, quality of competition, usage and shot prevention while shorthanded and penalty differential, though an insignificant minority might just look at reputation and plus-minus.

Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
Has taken 5,725 face-offs over the past three seasons, more than any other player in the league, a number which translates to roughly the same amount of time spent hunched over during Bruins games as players speared by Brad Marchand.

Ryan Kesler (Anaheim Ducks)
A regular Selke finalist and in the top five in voting in six of the past nine years, it remains a mystery why the thoughtful voters went somewhat cold on his candidacy during the other three years...

Mikko Koivu (Minnesota Wild)
Curiously, would become only the third Selke winner in the past 22 years to have been a top-10 overall draft pick. Coincidentally, no Edmonton Oiler has finished higher than 33rd in voting since the 2005/06 season.

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockeyIn practice, normally awarded to:The player who missed the most games through injury the season before, especially if injury caused by incident of vehicular donutshopicide

Craig Anderson (Ottawa Senators)
Known throughout his junior career as Craig Andersson despite it not being his actual surname, was forced to drop the extra 's' on signing with the Chicago Blackhawks after director of player personnel Dale Tallon, a notorious stickler for proper contractual procedure, noticed the discrepancy.

Andrew Cogliano (Anaheim Ducks)
Played four seasons in Edmonton between 2007 and 2011 before spending some time in the Austrian League in 2012/13.

Derek Ryan (Carolina Hurricanes)
Played four seasons in Edmonton between 2007 and 2011 before spending some time in the Austrian League in 2012/13, but never had to play for the Oilers or be a teammate of Corey Perry, so is definitely behind at least one other finalist in the voting for the award.

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing abilityIn practice, normally awarded to:The player adjudged to have had the fewest penalty minutes when the voters quickly skim down the list of top 20 scorers five minutes before the deadline to send in their ballot

Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames)
Notably suffered a fractured finger this season after being the target of stickwork from several Minnesota Wild players, making him one of the many thousands of men in Alberta to be unable to take a slash during a hockey game this year.Mikael Granlund (Minnesota Wild)
Drafted 9th overall in the 2010 draft, behind the likes of Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin and Nino Niederreiter, meaning he is scheduled to be given away in a terrible trade any day now.

Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis Blues)
Drafted 16th overall in the 2010 draft, behind the likes of Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin and Nino Niederreiter, meaning he is scheduled to be given away for 24 games of David Rundblad any day now.

Among his many career awards, Guy Lafleur was the very last recipient of the since-discontinued Worried Bear Face plaque (front left) in 1978

Jack Adams Award

Voted on by: Members of the NHL Broadcasters' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's successIn practice, normally awarded to:The coach adjudged to have coached either the most injured team or the team with the best PDO/shootout-fuelled record.

Mike Babcock (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Although surprisingly not a previous winner of the award, could be considered to be the Connor McDavid of coaches, if only for narrowly avoiding ending up in Buffalo before earning a massive contract in Canada.Todd McLellan (Edmonton Oilers)
Originally a New York Islanders draft pick, played a handful of games for that franchise before moving on to much greater success in later life, which is thought to be very much be a unique career path.

John Tortorella (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Despite a famously fractious relationship with the media, has recently been counselling hundreds of ex-ESPN journalists due to his shared experience of once having all his duties being assumed by an unqualified Barry Melrose.

The Jack Adams Award features two circular objects on its base, but is unlikely to ever see a third round

General Manager of the Year Award

Voted on by: General Managers of all NHL clubs and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast mediaSupposed to be awarded to:The top National Hockey League General ManagerIn practice, normally awarded to:The National Hockey League General Manager Most Unexpectedly In The Conference Final Regardless Of What He Did This Year Because That's Weirdly When the Voting Is Done

Peter Chiarelli (Edmonton Oilers)
His acquisition of a key Swedish defenseman has been credited as a major reason for the Oilers’ vast improvement and, while controversial, it is now clear that injured Oscar Klefbom is the price you have to pay to trade for healthy Oscar Klefbom.Pierre Dorion (Ottawa Senators)
Already in his brief time in the role, has displayed commendable loyalty and a desire to keep people in jobs longer than others might have done, Chris Neil and Jim Benning, for example.David Poile (Nashville Predators)
The veteran GM’s much-respected tenure in Nashville follows on from a lengthy body of work in successfully developing Washington Capitals draft picks into stars, such as Peter Bondra, Sergei Gonchar and Filip Forsberg.

15 May 2016

The NHL continues to perform due diligence on its potential expansion, a necessarily lengthy process to ensure that, by the end of it, intercontinental drift has caused Quebec City's location in the Arctic Circle to make it unsuitable as a franchise destination (further complicated by FIFA's likely decision to award it a World Cup at that time).

As such, the many, many NHL fans residing in Las Vegas will have to remain satisfied by the city's hosting of the NHL's annual awards show, the only televised showbiz event where the average uneducated viewer is more likely to have heard of the attending Nate Prosser than the celebrity invited to sit next to him.

Anson Carter's emotional speech in 2015 after receiving a special award in recognition of being the last living player to have been traded for Jaromír Jágr

Here is the usual quick rundown of the main awards (those that are voted on) and those in contention:

Hart Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to: The player adjudged most valuable to his teamIn practice, normally awarded to:A high-scoring forward, since goalies and defensemen "have their own awards", unlike high-scoring forwards

Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars)
While he might not be able to ridicule every single one of the pundits who predicted that he could not repeat last season's performance after coming off two hip surgeries, the Stars captain certainly mocks a bunch.

Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Lauded for his drive to make improvements in a different facet of the game each year, seamlessly adding "scoring like a third liner" to his armoury over the first six weeks of the season.

Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
Immense value to his team demonstrated by the vast improvement in its handling of the next serious criminal allegation against one of its players to come along, from mostly atrocious to pretty incompetent.

Ted Lindsay Award

Voted on by: Members of the National Hockey League Players' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to: The most outstanding player in the NHLIn practice, normally awarded to: "Whatever means the lowest escrow"

Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars)
As a fifth round draft pick out of western Canada, was not considered a can't-miss prospect by any means, but against all expectations, once he headed south, he stayed there.

Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals)
Born in the city of Lloydminster, which unusually has a provincial border running through the middle of it, perhaps explaining teammate Mike Richards' refusal to come and visit.

Although aware his name now appears on the base of the Art Ross Trophy, an uncomfortable Jamie Benn characteristically refuses to look down

James Norris Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the positionIn practice, normally awarded to:The Canadian defense player who demonstrates throughout October the greatest all-round ability to be "due" in the eyes of 90% of the press

Brent Burns (San Jose Sharks)
The dominant offensive year from the blue line that everyone had been waiting for since first converted to a defenseman in his wookie season.Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings)
Always destined for stardom, received a hockey stick for his first birthday and had skates by the age of two, enough to secure a second place Norris vote from Pierre LeBrun in the 1992/93 season.Erik Karlsson (Ottawa Senators)
Last year's winner trying to defend the trophy, apparently by staying 200 feet away while Mark Borowiecki stands in front of it by himself.

Vezina Trophy

Voted on by: General Managers of all NHL clubsSupposed to be awarded to:The goaltender who is adjudged to be the best at this positionIn practice, normally awarded to:The goaltender who is adjudged to be the best at wins, GAA and clutch winsBen Bishop (Tampa Bay Lightning)
The giant goalie has had an interesting career path: First NHL appearance was caused by Sarah Palin's carpet, trade to Ottawa was a result of a kitchen knife accident, stolen by the Lightning due to Cory Conacher sustaining an impression of Martin St. Louis for a few months.

Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals)
Career progression has seen him move from a stint in the AHL to now matching the season wins record set by the Devils' iconic goalie, a sentence which is the first and only time anyone has considered the words "Hershey" and "shared with Martin Brodeur" in close proximity.

Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles Kings)
The subject of fierce debate between traditional hockey observers and the new analytics movement, the two-time Cup winner is a polarising figure, in that he tends not to occupy the middle ground between the posts.

Calder Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey LeagueIn practice, normally awarded to:The player selected as the highest point-scoring forward in what might be his third year of competition in the National Hockey League after what might be no or several years of competition in another professional league

Shayne Gostisbehere (Philadelphia Flyers)
Drafted four years ago while at college, an event now recognised as being the only positive thing to happen to a hockey player associated with a Union in 2012.Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
Looking to become the first Oiler to win the Calder, a fact explained by Wayne Gretzky's ineligibility in his first NHL season and the team being completely bereft of opportunities to make high draft picks in almost 12 months.

Artemi Panarin (Chicago Blackhawks)
Nicknamed the "Bread Man" by his Blackhawks colleagues, on account of stories of how people in Russia would line up to see him at work.

KHL veteran Artemi Panarin (far left) was first courted by the Blackhawks while attending the 2015 awards ceremony as a guest of the Toews family

Frank J. Selke Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the gameIn practice, normally awarded to: The forward who is considered by PHWA members to be the best defensively, based on a balanced analysis of zone-starts, Corsi %, quality of competition, usage and shot prevention while shorthanded and penalty differential, though an insignificant minority might just look at reputation and plus-minus.

Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
Led the Eastern Conference with 389 defensive zone faceoff wins, a tally he will definitely shatter repeatedly in the years to come, according to Bruins GM Don Sweeney.

Ryan Kesler (Anaheim Ducks)
Led the league with 441 defensive zone faceoff wins, a tally he will definitely shatter repeatedly in the years to come, according to hopefully returning Ducks coach Randy Carlyle.Anže Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings)
As the NHL's official announcement on the Selke finalists notes, the Slovenian's candidacy was boosted by a strong plus-34 rating, bringing his career mark of plus-79 just above the universally recognised threshold for elite defensive ability, Alexander Ovechkin's plus-78.

While taking it with his usual good grace, Patrice Bergeron enjoyed Brad Marchand's superglue-on-the-Awards-photoshoot-chair prank slightly more the first three years in which it happened

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockeyIn practice, normally awarded to:The player who missed the most games through injury the season before, especially if injury caused by incident of vehicular donutshopicide

Pascal Dupuis (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Carved out a more than respectable career after only playing six games with the New York Rangers in the 2006/07 season, but pales in comparison with the accolades received by a player who joined that select group five years later.

Jaromír Jágr (Florida Panthers)
Among the many remarkable statistics about the legendary Czech, perhaps the most amazing is that when he was born, not a single one of his current Panthers team-mates had yet been born.

Mats Zuccarello (New York Rangers)
Recovered from a brain injury that required speech therapy, making it the second most painful thing to happen to a Norwegian in the NHL.

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing abilityIn practice, normally awarded to:The player adjudged to have had the fewest penalty minutes when the voters quickly skim down the list of top 20 scorers five minutes before the deadline to send in their ballot

Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers)
The Lady Byng typically awarded to more diminutive skaters, the young Finn being listed at 6-3, 212 lbs would likely make him the largest player to ever win the award, or at least the largest at the time of winning it, as a snacking Brett Hull reminds me.Loui Eriksson (Boston Bruins)
Although not a consideration in the voting for the award, the impending UFA took no penalties at all during the playoffs for the team the rebuilding Bruins assuredly traded him to at the deadline.

Anže Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings)
The Kings' perennial top scorer, recently rewarded with a long term, $80m contract, featuring a full no-movement clause in the first four years, after which he will submit a list of seven cities with which he is willing for Dean Lombardi to arrange his arrest.

Jack Adams Award

Voted on by: Members of the NHL Broadcasters' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's successIn practice, normally awarded to:The coach adjudged to have coached either the most injured team or the team with the best PDO/shootout-fuelled record.

Gerard Gallant (Florida Panthers)
As a player for Detroit, averaged 37 goals and 236 penalty minutes a season over a productive four-year stretch in the late 1980s, ranking 10th on the Red Wings and 150th in the league in both categories at that time.Lindy Ruff (Dallas Stars)
17 years after the career disappointment of losing a Cup final elimination game to a goal that should not have been allowed, has been working closely with Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen to ensure Stars games feature as many legitimate goals as possible.

Barry Trotz (Washington Capitals)
Played a part in the suspension of Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn while head coach in Nashville during an ultimately unsuccessful playoff series, so was a natural fit at the Verizon Center, the home of meaningless banners.

Whatever the outcome of the Jack Adams voting, Barry Trotz is considered the overwhelming favourite in the "Award Finalist Looking Most Like the Merged Faces of the Other Two Finalists" category

General Manager of the Year Award

Voted on by: General Managers of all NHL clubs and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast mediaSupposed to be awarded to:The top National Hockey League General ManagerIn practice, normally awarded to:The National Hockey League General Manager Most Likely To Be Fired Within A Couple Of Years As A Direct Consequence Of Short-Term Moves That Led To Being A Finalist For The Award

Brian MacLellan (Washington Capitals)
With a playing career that featured a World Championship silver medal and time spent as a line-mate of Marcel Dionne, a Hall of Fame scorer who never played beyond the second round of the playoffs, the former assistant was considered to have impeccable credentials to guide the Capitals when hired as GM.Jim Nill (Dallas Stars)
Along with NHL Hall of Famer Lanny McDonald and the rock band Nickelback, the Stars GM is one of the most famous exports of the small town of Hanna, Alberta, as well as being the second most respected musical export of the small town of Hanna, Alberta, behind NHL Hall of Famer Lanny McDonald.

Jim Rutherford (Pittsburgh Penguins)
The vastly experienced GM has been praised for his acceptance of the increasing role of analytics, but made clear when hired that he would still rely heavily on "Gut Decision", that being the name of the hot dog emporium close to Consol Energy Center now thought to be behind the impressive form of his key acquisition.

24 May 2015

The NHL's annual awards show is universally recognised as the second most exciting Vegas-related event connected to the league in recent times, ranking somewhere between a season ticket drive for a potential expansion franchise and Jarret Stoll's next pool party.

Observers had the contest for the award for "Most Inappropriate Use of Team Logos" as being too close to call between the two main contenders

Here is the usual quick rundown of the main awards (those that are voted on) and those in contention:

Hart Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to: The player adjudged most valuable to his teamIn practice, normally awarded to:A high-scoring forward, since goalies and defensemen "have their own awards", unlike high-scoring forwards

Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
Looking to join a select group of Eddie Shore, Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky as four-time MVPs, which would likely precipitate an unprecedented surge in the number of Google searches by Canadian sportswriters for "What are the career plus-minus ratings of Eddie Shore, Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky?"

Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens)
Just like the previous goalie to win the award, managed to haul a low-scoring, Michel Therrien-coached Canadiens team to the heady heights of a second round playoff exit in six games to a southern US team.

John Tavares (New York Islanders)
The only other time an Islander won the Hart, a phenom Edmonton Oiler then won the trophy in each of the next eight seasons consecutively, which is going to put a lot of pressure on Auston Matthews if Tavares wins it next year.

Ted Lindsay Award

Voted on by: Members of the National Hockey League Players' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to: The most outstanding player in the NHLIn practice, normally awarded to: "Whatever means the lowest escrow"

Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars)
His scoring title has been viewed as fortuitous by some, after collecting four points in the final game of the season, including a goal and an assist in the final seconds of a game already won, but as linemate Tyler Seguin frequently tells his landlord, there's no such thing as garbage time.

Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
After successive underwhelming point-per-game, 50-goal (or pro-rated equivalent) seasons, bounced right back into the conversation as to the league's best player with a dynamic point-per-game, 50-goal season.

Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens)
While clearly deserving of plaudits for his own spectacular performances, Montreal's' 2010 playoff run and Team Canada's gold medal win in Sochi build a case that his teams are ultimately only successful when he faces no shots at all.

James Norris Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the positionIn practice, normally awarded to:Zemgus Girgensons

P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadiens)
Recognised as the jewel of Montreal's bounty of elite players obtained in the 2007 draft, ahead of Max Pacioretty and the future rights to Michael Busto.

Vezina Trophy

Voted on by: General Managers of all NHL clubsSupposed to be awarded to:The goaltender who is adjudged to be the best at this positionIn practice, normally awarded to:Not a CanadianDevan Dubnyk (Minnesota Wild)
Spent much of the 2013/14 season preparing for this awards race by being ranked several places behind Pekka Rinne and Carey Price.

Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens)
It is thought that nothing at all stands between Price and this award, which presumably means Chris Kreider is presenting it.

Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators)
Has an outside chance of becoming the second alumnus of Oulun Kärpät to win the Vezina, although the phrase "alumnus of Oulun Kärpät" is usually mistaken as membership of an obscure right-wing cult when seen on Tim Thomas's Facebook profile.

Andrew Ference's previously impeccable green credentials came into question when he was found incinerating a suit and several thousand copies of this photograph after the 2014 awards show

Calder Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey LeagueIn practice, normally awarded to:The player selected as the highest point-scoring forward in what might be his third year of competition in the National Hockey League after what might be no or several years of competition in another professional league

Aaron Ekblad (Florida Panthers)
Has much in common with the only other player drafted first overall by the Panthers, Ed Jovanovski: Born in Windsor, Ontario; Defenseman nominated for the Calder; Busy doing the same thing as the Colorado Avalanche in June of his rookie season.Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames)
Clearly impressed more than fellow 2011 draftee of the Flames, Sven Bärtschi, evidenced by being kept around so he can be included in the package to soon be sent the other way in the blockbuster Tyler Biggs trade that Brian Burke is reportedly pushing his GM to make.

Mark Stone (Ottawa Senators)
One year after Shawn Thornton's failure, credited with finding a way to disguise intentionally squirting water at P.K. Subban from the bench to avoid being fined.

Frank J. Selke Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the gameIn practice, normally awarded to: The forward who is considered by PHWA members to be the best defensively, based on a balanced analysis of zone-starts, Corsi %, quality of competition, usage and shot prevention while shorthanded and penalty differential, though an insignificant minority might just look at reputation and plus-minus.

Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
As well as winning the Selke in at the 2014 awards show, was voted as the official cover athlete of NHL 15, bringing an end to the supposed curse of the cover athlete, that curse being "Why the f--- is Marty Brodeur on the front of NHL 14?"

Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)
Respected in the hockey community for his ability at both ends of the ice and for his selfless leadership, and in the lazy meme community for his ability to not refer to LeBron James in post-championship interviews.

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockeyIn practice, normally awarded to:The player who missed the most games through injury the season before

Devan Dubnyk (Minnesota Wild)
Beat the odds by becoming the first person in recorded history to have failure in Edmonton not result in a lifetime front office position.

Andrew Hammond (Ottawa Senators)
Despite reeling off a remarkable point-earning streak to start his NHL career, still fell short of Patrick Lalime's near-unbreakable record of playing three playoff series against the Maple Leafs.

Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Googling "Kris Letang stroke" either returns articles about the health problems he has overcome, which help to explain his candidacy for this award, or points you in the direction of pieces of fan fiction, which usually don't.

In preparation for the following season, 2014 Masterton Trophy winner, Dominic Moore, practices carrying an inanimate object around on his left-hand side for 10 minutes a night

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Voted on by: Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing abilityIn practice, normally awarded to:The player adjudged to have had the fewest penalty minutes when the voters quickly skim down the list of top 20 scorers five minutes before the deadline to send in their ballot

Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings)
After winning this award every year from 2006 to 2009, famously fought Corey Perry in the 2010/11 season, with 61% of voters on hockeyfights.com declaring him the winner, the other 39% unable to vote after trying to punch Corey Perry themselves through their computer screen.Jiří Hudler (Calgary Flames)
At one point this season, amusingly attended a Los Angeles practice at which he should not have been, an idea said to have been inspired by Dean Lombardi.

Anže Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings)
Followed a career low 10 PIM in the regular season by even more impressively and unexpectedly taking no penalties at all throughout the entire playoffs.

Jack Adams Award

Voted on by: Members of the NHL Broadcasters' AssociationSupposed to be awarded to:The coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's successIn practice, normally awarded to:The coach adjudged to have coached either the most injured team or the team with the best PDO/shootout-fuelled record.

Bob Hartley (Calgary Flames)
Has a list of unique career achievements, including leading Ray Bourque to a Stanley Cup win, coaching an Atlanta Thrashers playoff game and managing to make John Tortorella slightly angry.Peter Laviolette (Nashville Predators)
In the history of Carolina Hurricanes coaches, was sandwiched by Paul Maurice, which sounds very similar to the instruction given to Dustin Byfuglien when he gets hungry during a game.

Alain Vigneault (New York Rangers)
Apparently has a resemblance to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, though Medvedev is understood not to be willing to be closely associated with anyone with as toxic a reputation as Ulf Samuelsson.

General Manager of the Year Award

Voted on by: General Managers of all NHL clubs and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast mediaSupposed to be awarded to:The top National Hockey League General ManagerIn practice, normally awarded to:The National Hockey League General Manager Most Likely To Be Fired Within A Couple Of Years As A Direct Consequence Of Short-Term Moves That Led To Being A Finalist For The Award

Bob Murray (Anaheim Ducks)
Current holder of this award masterminded further improvement in the Ducks this year, primarily by engineering a blockbuster trade of the Kings for the Flames as a second round playoff opponent.

Glen Sather (New York Rangers)
Understood to be so beloved by wildly popular Rangers owner, James Dolan, that he effectively has an agreement to stay in the GM job for life or until the Rangers next have a first round draft pick, whichever is the sooner.Steve Yzerman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Allied with some key acquisitions, managed to hold together an emerging roster despite not picking a single member of it for the Canadian Olympic team this year.

7 March 2015

This is my fifth look for the 2014/15 regular season at which teams have been hit hardest by injury/illness by trying to place a value on the games missed by players.

The concept again - multiply each game missed by a player by his 2014/15 cap charge (including bonuses), then take the aggregate of these figures for each team and divide by 82. This indicator of value lost to a team by injury/illness is called CHIP (Cap Hit of Injured Players).

This analysis covers every team up to its 60th game only. (Following on from the 50-game analysis.)

For a more regular snapshot (i.e. weekly updates beyond the 10-game interval retrospectives), follow my critically acclaimed Twitter feed (@LW3H). CHIP rankings are also again being fed into Rob Vollman's Team Luck calculator on a weekly basis.

To accompany what goes here and there, a new member to the injury analysis family, if only the Jared Staal at this point, is at NHL Injury Dataviz. There can be found clicky stuff and bright colours, of the kind that keeps a growing Zac Rinaldo occupied during his 55 minutes on the bench and/or press box seat.

Alternatively...
Again, for a different indicator of player "value", I've also illustrated a similar metric based on TOI/G alongside the CHIP numbers. Clearly, neither cap charge nor TOI/G are perfect measures of player value (whatever Anton Strawman might claim), since each have a number of limitations and inconsistencies, but they provide a decent comparison and the results do vary somewhat.

A quick summary of the alternative metric:

TOI/G replaces cap charge as the measure of value in the calculation

For goalies, TOI/G has been worked out as Total Minutes Played / Games Dressed For* - i.e. a goalie playing every minute of 75% of the games, zero in the rest, would end up with a TOI/G of 45 minutes (or close to it, once you factor in OT and so on). [*Actually, "Games Played by Team - Games Missed by Goalie" - I'm not inclined to disentangle any three-goalie systems or minor-league conditioning stints.]

This arguably overstates the worth of starting goalies somewhat, but it's simple and you could equally argue that a workhorse goalie is the hardest position to replace, so it's fair for them to have a much higher TOI/G figure

Where a player hasn't played all year or where a player fairly clearly has a reduced TOI/G figure due to getting injured in their only game or one of very few games, I've used TOI/G from last season (or further back if necessary)

For each player, multiply games missed by TOI/G to get (for a more palatable name) Cumulative Minutes of Injured Player (CMIP)

Take the aggregate of CMIP for the team and divide by games played by the team to arrive at AMIP (Average Minutes of Injured Players) - it feels more understandable expressing this metric as an average per game (whereas CHIP is a running total)

[Click to enlarge any image]The figures...
The table below shows:

Total CHIP for each team over the first 60 games of the regular season, as well as the distribution of CHIP by position

The player who has contributed most to the team's CHIP figure

The number of players with a CHIP contribution of over $250,000 (think of it as being equivalent to a $1m player missing 20 games or a $4m player missing five games)

AMIP for each team over the same period (e.g. an AMIP of 40:00 could be seen as the team missing two 20-minute per game players for every game this season)

CHIP figures in graphical form:

The same for AMIP (teams in the same order as the CHIP chart for ease of comparison):

Heat map representation of per-game CHIP, with "healthy" games (no players out) also highlighted ("retired" players under contract excluded on this chart):

The following is a ranking of teams by CHIP over Games 51-60 only, to further illustrate some of the biggest movers over the past 10 games:

10 second analysis...

After dipping below 60 man-games lost in the previous 10-game stretch, the Blue Jackets have decided to put their foot on the gas again (the gas subsequently catching fire and torching the whole franchise, only David Clarkson's contract surviving the fireball)

The Canadiens finally feeling a little injury pain (if still not much) has led them to pass the Kings in the CHIP standings, although the relatively cheap contracts for Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson and Alec Martinez somewhat understate their value (as the respective AMIP values for the two teams suggests)

The Hurricanes following up an impressive 11 straight games with a full line-up with only Ryan Murphy being out (plus a single game for impending trade anchor, Tim Gleason) has predictably seen them focus intently on the playoffs (those in which the Erie Otters will be taking part)

A few big outliers at either end, but the CHIP ranking otherwise is pretty bunched still, so you could throw a blanket or an unwanted Oilers jersey over pretty much half the league

The next lists are the top 30 individual CHIP and CMIP contributions:

The upper end of these lists also double as the Maple Leafs' trade targets for the next 5-10 years and/or the Sabres goaltending candidates for the rest of the season.Where does it hurt?
This is another update of the crude injury-by-location analysis. Again, I’ve just used the descriptions found in the player profiles on tsn.ca, so the figures will encompass all the inaccuracies and vagueness within them. It should give a broad indication, if nothing else, though.

Nathan Horton's injury still listed as "back" despite rumours of also suffering from breathing difficulties caused by repeated and vigorous hugging by Dave Nonis.

The crude rate of injuries (instances / total games played) now stands at 0.80. This compares to 0.80 per game last year (0.80 in 2012/13, 0.78 in 2011/12 and 0.76 in 2010/11), so as I seem to say every year, no real evidence to suggest there have been more injuries than normal, despite common perception.

Finally, another look at the Evasiveness Index. This is basically the proportion of injury instances for each team that have been described as either "Undisclosed" or the helpfully pointless "Upper/Lower Body" in the same TSN profiles. I have made no judgement about whether the many instances of "Illness" (i.e. concussion) or "Flu" (i.e. concussion) other than those contracted directly from Corey Perry should also be included,

Just like players with any ability, a sudden rush of injury disclosure escaping from the Coyotes.

Notes/Disclaimers

Figures exclude a few minor-leaguers / marginal NHLers (usually an arbitrary judgement on my part) who had been on the NHL club’s IR since pre-season. Generally, if a minor-leaguer gets called up and then injured in an NHL game, his games missed will then count towards the CHIP though. Minor-league conditioning stints immediately after/during a period on IR tend to be included in the man-games lost figures (but can't guarantee TSN's figures are always consistent on this)

For the avoidance of doubt, suspensions and absences due to "personal reasons" are not included in the figures. However, as per previous seasons, any "retired" player still under contract (Savard, Pronger, Ohlund) is still included. There are also one or two slightly less "retired" players not separately identified in the bar chart above (e.g. Souray, Peverley, Horton).

There are undoubtedly a few inaccuracies and inconsistencies in there - I do the best I can with the information out there. Corrections might well be picked up in subsequent updates

The cap figure obviously doesn't really correlate very well to the "worth" of a player in some cases, e.g. where players are seeing out an old (underpaid or rookie) contract or where players are horrendously overpaid and/or were signed by Paul Holmgren, Dave Nonis, Jay Feaster, Dave Nonis, Glen Sather, Dave Nonis...

Also, for any player traded where cap hit is retained by his old team, the cap hit used will only reflect that for his current team

Click HERE if you want a full team-by-team listing of games missed and CHIP/CMIP numbers by each player

Injury/games/TOI info courtesy of tsn.ca and nhl.com - man-games lost info more than likely does not exactly match up with the "official" figures released by individual teams (as teams don't have any sort of consistent reporting standards)